Newbury is my favorite subject! We lived there until 1995; my husband served as a township trustee, and I served on the Newbury School Board. I also wrote weekly columns on Newbury history for two local newspapers. Newbury is FULL of fascinating history. Off the top of my head, I remember that South Newbury in particular (along Ohio Route 44, south of Route 87) had many firsts, including the first kindergarten west of the Alleghenies, the first steam bath house, the first women's vote in Ohio, etc. First of all, and this is again off the top of my rapidly aging head, the township was founded about 1810 when Lemuel Punderson walked there from Connecticut (?). He stayed overnight in nearby Burton, then walked west a few miles till he came to a spectacular glacial lake. He claimed it for his own, and to this day it is still called Punderson Lake. (now a state park). It formed a township government in 1817. Most of the pioneering families came from Monson, Massachusetts, and from Connecticut. The land had been part of the Western Reserve. Punderson got busy and built a mill at the bottom of the lake, near what is now Pond Road in South Newbury, and he built a cabin there and eventually a sizable frame house (still standing). He also became an expert distiller, and had many distilleries at the south end of the lake. When the new State of Ohio contacted him about helping to route out a new north-south stagecoach highway through the area, Lemuel saw to it that the road went past each of his stills. To this day, the road winds dramatically through South Newbury. Lemuel, who was known for his generosity, was helping a neighbor when he contracted malaria, a common problem in the swampy southern part of the lake. He died, and is buried on the top of a knoll in South Newbury Cemetery, near what had been his millpond. South Newbury flourished during the mid 1800s. At that time, there were four distinct settlements in the township, one of which was called Fullertown, in the NW section of the township, but South Newbury was far and above the most prosperous. It had a cheese factory, tannery, etc. And a large brick church. Just before the Civil War, the church invited a local professor of nearby Hiram College, James A. Garfield, to come and speak. They somehow found out that Garfield was a strong abolitionist and also advocated things like immersion baptism, so they changed their minds and locked the church doors before he arrived. Undaunted, he went across the street (again, Route 44), and preached in a field. The townspeople, enraged at how he had been treated, decided to build a chapel on the site, dedicated to free speech. That little church, known as Union Chapel, still stands, lovingly maintained by a committee of volunteers. It was there that the Women's Suffrage Movement got a big boost. Newbury women were way ahead of their times. Many of them wore trousers, in protest of the confining clothes of the time. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and, I believe, Susan B. Anthony, (am not sure), spoke at Union Chapel. The Newbury women tried to vote in the 1876 (?) election, but the men got wind of their plan, and hired young boys to sit in the chapel all day and smoke, effectively keeping the ladies away. The women shamed the men for that, and the men relented for the next election. Several women cast their ballots, but the actual ballots mysteriously disappeared before they reached Columbus (Chardon?). One of the Suffragettes was Ellen Munn, daughter of a prominent family that included a Civil War hero. Ellen had the strange notion that daily baths were healthy, so she had a bath house built on her family's farm. The little building is still there. I could go on and on........like I said, this is my favorite topic! Newbury's most prominent citizen was A.G. Riddle, who served as a congressman, among many other things, and was a close friend and advisor to Abraham Lincoln. Lucky for us, he was also a dedicated historian, and wrote some outstanding histories, which can be found in the excellent local history room of Burton Public Library. Riddle wrote thumbnail biographies of many of Newbury's pioneers, and was a stickler for detail. I used to "live" in that room, since the library will not let such treasures circulate. I will answer whatever questions I can about Newbury history, again from what I can remember writing about, so please verify any details I give you. I can't do lookups or anything like that, unfortunately, but will try to help if I can. Diane Ryder, Columbus, OH -----Original Message----- From: Gregg Watts <gwatts@krl.org> To: OHGEAUGA-L@rootsweb.com <OHGEAUGA-L@rootsweb.com> Date: Friday, April 23, 1999 9:15 AM Subject: Re: Where is Newbury? >Judi- >Newbury is in Newbury township, which is south of Chardon. If your map >shows the smaller routes, it's at the crossroads of rte. 87 and Auburn >Rd., about 2 miles west of the intersection of 87 & 44. There's a South >Newbury on 44, about a mile and a half south of this intersection. They're >right next to Punderson State Park, which should be on your map. I don't >know the history, but maybe the town sprung up near the Punderson Lake >that is part of the park. > >I use the state maps from DeLorme. The Ohio map should be available thru >bookstores (ISBN 0899332331). You can also check out the gov't maps that >should be avail. at larger libraries. If you have trouble finding a map, >let me know. > >Gregg Watts >Researching in Ohio: ABBEY, BISSELL, CALDWELL, DENSLOW, JUDD, McKAY, >OWENS, PERKINS, STOUT, WATTS, WITTER. >Others: EARP, ILER, PURNELL, TRANCHO. > > >On Thu, 22 Apr 1999, Judi Lee wrote: > >> I have ancestors who were born in Newbury, Ohio. I have tried to find a >> map of Geauga County with Newbury on it but have been unsuccessful. >> Could someone please tell me where Newbury is? Where can I get a good >> map of Geauga County? >> >> Judi Lee >> Calgary, Alberta, Canada >> >> SurnameInterest: >> US >> SELLS - (Ohio, Iowa, Penn, Kentucky) BAUM -(Ohio) SMITH - (Geauga >> Co,Ohio) >> FERRIS - (Geauga Co., Ohio) FRANCIS - (Ohio) >> >> >> >> >> >> ==== OHGEAUGA Mailing List ==== >> This list is for the discussion of Geauga County Ohio families & history >> > > >==== OHGEAUGA Mailing List ==== >Visit the Geauga Co. Ohio Web page at: >http://www.rootsweb.com/~ohgeauga/geauga.html > >